No More, No Less

[orikes]

"You lived what anyone gets, Bernie. You got a lifetime."
"No more, no less."

Sunday night I got Half-Blood Prince in my hands, but before I could dive back into Harry Potter's world, I needed to finish my journey through Morpheus' world. A friend was particularly kind enough to lend me all ten compilations. Sunday night I had to finish 'The Wake' before I could set off back to Hogwarts.

I'm honestly not sure what I was expecting out of the series. Of course I had heard of Sandman. Who can have an interest in comics and NOT have heard about it? I'd even read Neil Gaiman before. But this series was definitely not what I was expecting. It was far deeper and far better than I thought it would be and that's quite the good thing.

Gaiman is one of those authors who makes me feel slow. As much as I loved 'American Gods' and now the Sandman series, when I'm reading him I feel like I'm struggling to catch up to the rest of the class and understand what he's referencing. It doesn't have the pretentious feel that I get from some authors; those I end up putting aside and moving on. With Gaiman, though, he seems like he'd be an incredibly interesting person to talk to, but I'd be giving him a blank stare a good chunk of the time as he references things I know I should know, but somehow don't.

Either way, Sandman left me contemplative. So many themes and thoughts to mull over and consider. I'm babbling at this point, but having finished the series, I felt like I should comment. Read it if you get a chance.

(As a side note, I never did figure out who the unnamed god was supposed to be from American Gods. That's another reason I feel dumb reading Gaiman sometimes. I know there are things I should get that I just don't.)

Comments

[jengagne.livejournal.com]

... feel like I'm struggling to catch up to the rest of the class and understand what he's referencing. It doesn't have the pretentious feel that I get from some authors...

I know exactly what you mean. It's not like a pretentious "LOOK, look at all the stuff I'm reffing, you intellectual peon!" but rather, you recognize that the material is deep.

Knowing you're reaching the chronological end of the story, a deeper understanding is the only way to get more story. :) That's why there's at least one book that does nothing but literary interpretation for Sandman. I have it on my shelf at home but can't remember the title. Lemme know if you want more info.

Random Sandman trivia: the book of magic Dee uses in the beginning vs. Dream is marked "Paginarum Fulvarum" (the Yellow Pages), but isn't colored yellow. Guess the colorist didn't speak Latin. Hee.

[orikes13.livejournal.com]

I'd love it if you could let me know what book that is. :) And hehe. I missed that yellow pages reference. I might have gotten that with the SMIDGEN of latin I understand from playing on Aether. ;)

[jengagne.livejournal.com]

Here we go.

Neil Gaiman's the Sandman and Joseph Campbell: In Search of the Modern Myth.

I'm assuming you know who Joseph Campbell is... if not, you'd surely enjoy finding out more.

Also, a more specific one The Sandman Companion : A Dreamer's Guide to the Award-Winning Comic Series.

Here's some "OOC" info about the series... how they got it started, yadda.
The Sandman: King of Dreams.